Nearly 400 million Indians, mostly those living in rural communities, lack access to grid power. For many of them, simply charging a cell phone requires a long trip to a town with a recharging kiosk, and their homes are dimly lit by sooty kerosene-fueled lamps.

To change that, Nikhil Jaisinghani and Brian Shaad cofounded Mera Gao Power. Taking advantage of the falling cost of solar panels and LEDs, the company aims to build and operate low-cost solar-powered microgrids that can provide clean light and charge phones. Microgrids distribute electricity in a limited area from a relatively small generation point. While alternative solutions, such as individual solar-powered lanterns, can also provide light and charge phones, the advantage of a microgrid is that the installation cost can be spread across a village. The system can also use more efficient, larger-scale generation and storage systems, lowering operational costs.

Mera Gao's first commercial microgrid was deployed last summer, and eight more villages have been added since; there are plans to expand to another 40 villages this year with the help of a $300,000 grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development. The company has also encouraged others to enter the Indian market for off-grid renewable energy, which the World Resources Institute, a think tank based in Washington, DC, estimates at $2 billion per year.

A typical installation uses two banks of solar panels, located on different rooftops. Credit: Anna Da Costa

For a cost of $2,500, a hundred households, in groups of up to 15, can be wired up to two generation hubs, each consisting of a set of solar panels and a battery pack. The grid uses 24-volt DC power throughout, which permits the use of aluminum wiring rather than the more expensive copper wiring required for higher-voltage AC distribution systems. The village is carefully mapped before installation to ensure the most efficient arrangement of distribution lines. (Circuit breakers will trip if a freeloader tries to tap in.) "This mapping and design is our biggest innovation," Jaisinghani says.

Each household gets 0.2 amps for seven hours a night—enough to power two LED lights and a mobile-phone charging point—for a prepaid monthly fee of 100 rupees ($2); kerosene and phone charging generally cost 100 to 150 rupees a month.

Jaisinghani says Mera Gao's microgrid is not a replacement for grid power, but it's what people want and can pay for right now. Currently the technology supports only lighting and phone charging, but the company is exploring ideas such as community entertainment centers where the costs of television, radio, cooling fans, and information services are spread across a group of homes rather than being paid by a single user.

2500$ is a lot of money for a 'perishable' commodity. short term at least they (the proverbial they of course) are probably better off going cheaper.I'd be playing with solar stirlings to charge cell pjones or building it into the phone to start with- laptops too.maybe a large homemade version similar to this one-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgYfhMLUa7s

or one I made for kicks-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHjnrfObud0

the water supply may actually be a more 'important' alternate use of solar cells for the 'municipality' its used in.

1179 Days Ago

05/10/2012

Solar panels made mini-grids may be sufficient for a hpuse.

1178 Days Ago

05/11/2012

university of nebraska- prof. chen and others have a pretty good handle on passive solar.the electricity is the most expensive side of solar- the rest, if the electricty use is minimized, is very do-able. things like cell phones,laptops, etc. really should be independent of grid ties if possible (self sufficientor self energized) so that the footprint is smaller. a lot of useful usb devices out now that can charge from the usb port. most of these types of items are not something that leads to more food, or shelter....

1161 Days Ago

05/28/2012

Another way to describe this alternative. If I calculated this correctly, these poor people are paying about 2 dollars a kilowatt hour. I pay about 7 cents a kilowatt hour. Are we sure there isn't a better way than solar cells to help these poor people.?

1161 Days Ago

05/28/2012

@pez001 It's true that being poor is expensive. The article notes that they pay at least this much for nasty kerosene lanterns that stink, make it hard to breathe, and can burn your house down. They also note that they pay more in time and effort to have to go get their phones charged at a kiosk. Solar powered battery lanterns were mentioned as an alternative. I suspect that the cost for subscribers will come down as the system costs are recovered and depreciated. If they can really serve 100 households for $2500, and they get $2 per household/month then they have the system paid for in just over 2 years, which is not a bad ROI.

BTW, I did find it interesting that they are able to use aluminum wiring. I know they used to use it in the US, in things like mobile homes, but it was a fire risk when used with higher voltage/amperage AC.

1160 Days Ago

05/29/2012

Electricity, more often than not, has been the single most key catalyst in giving cultures the ability to accelerate their rate of advancement. But allocating 0.2 amps over 7 hours may be too limiting. It will be interesting to see how many of these villages - or 100 member communities at the least - use the additional lighting to their advantage in becoming more productive, leading to greater wealth, leading to further improvements perhaps including more advanced electricity delivery, etc. In other words, will they repeat the classical cycle?

1160 Days Ago

05/29/2012

I read recently of the potato shortage and the following potato glut. I'd be burying the potatoes for next years crop or making fuel from them. All the alternatives CAN come into play- not just PV.

1096 Days Ago

08/01/2012

Transmission losses, costs, are zero! Await now the technological revolution that will give sustainable lifestyles to great masses of humanity! They will live in a "world apart" from the American Dreamers, and they will, as even the Bible predicts, "inherit the earth" question is: after all the plutonium deliberately crated by American war mongers these past six and a half decades, will that world be survivable by any life-forms? www.theoildrum.com/node/4971 tells the story pin-points the departure from sanity by a few American psychopaths in control there, for the world to see, and the pattern set that persists to today.

869 Days Ago

03/16/2013

josepmguerrero DC microgrids are being investigated in Aalborg University, Denmark. A new research program on microgrids has been started this year.You can find it here the information:http://www.et.aau.dk/research-programmes/MicroGrids/Let me know if you are interested on cooperate with us with this exciting new technologies.Josep M. Guerrero, Professor in Microgridjoz (at) et.aau.dk